Ted Strickland was probably hoping nobody would notice him quitting that anti-gun group

You may have already seen that former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) is currently testing the waters for a 2016 Senate run against incumbent Republican Rob Portman. But if he’s really serious about it, he may want to get a very good chemistry set to perform his analysis. Ohio may be a swing state, but they take a number of their fundamental rights very seriously, including their Second Amendment rights. And with that in mind, it might not have been such a good idea to spend the last year as a bigwig in an anti-gun group.

But don’t worry… as soon as he began considering a Senate run, he resigned his position.

Last week, amidst news that former Governor Ted Strickland (D) is considering a run for U.S. Senate against Senator Rob Portman (R), Buckeye Firearms Association published my article informing voters of Strickland’s involvement over the past year as President of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, an anti-gun rights lobbying group in Washington D.C.

After providing many examples of CAP’s anti-gun activities, I concluded that former Governor Ted Strickland, despite the good he did for gun owners when he lived in Ohio, has completely and totally lost his way in Washington D.C.

The article drew quick attention. Less than two hours after the article was published, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) sent the article to its “Rapid Response” email list. From there, news of the article was quickly picked up by media – first by the Cleveland Plain Dealer and then from the Associated Press.

The Cincinnati Enquirer is now reporting that Strickland suddenly quit his position at CAP last week, even as he continues to “test the waters” for a U.S. Senate campaign with an initial fundraising pitch to donors.

Strickland used to have an A+ rating from the NRA and even received the group’s endorsement in 2010. (A fairly unusual feat for a Democrat.) That was a function of necessity in a state where poll respondents believe that gun ownership makes people safer by a 57-33 margin and a significant plurality believe that the NRA reflects their view on guns more than Barack Obama does. Something tells me that running off to Washington to be the President of CAP isn’t going to sit well with people who hold those particular values.